Ever wonder what it’s like to build a timber frame from the ground up? Join The Year of Mud this June for a 7 day Timber Frame Workshop near Berea, Kentucky. In this totally hands-on introductory workshop, students will use timeless techniques and traditional hand tools to lay out and join a beautiful timber frame pavilion. Learn valuable new carpentry skills in a gorgeous mountain homestead setting, and discover what it takes to build a long-lived timber structure using mortise…

PROJECT This will be the very first workshop hosted on this beautiful new sacred land purchased in January 2019.  The only existing building on the land is a 30m2 agricultural support structure made of clay bricks/blocks.  While the plan is to develop a small Ecovillage community, the first officially habitable building will not be built until November/December as there is a permit process that I am choosing to adhere to.  Thus the first structures we will build in this 4-week…

(The workshop start with dinner on the first day and end with lunch on the last day) ​Fee: $1275 Maximum class size: 16 students Our 2019 workshop “complete Cob and Natural building” is already full; send us an email if you would like to be added to the waiting list. We will be doing several workshops in 2020 and will post them on the web in September. To get an alert about this, please sign up for our newsletter. ​Included in the fee: Instructions camping spot 3…

All of our Natural Building Workshops are led and facilitated by the builder of a 900 sq.ft. split level Cob Home.  This home was built in 5 months during 2016.  About 80% of it was built by one person – your workshop instructor – on his own.  He had help putting up the floor and roofing beams as well as the giant windows and skylights, but 90% of the cobbing was done alone.  That’s the power of this technique that…

Dates: July 8 – July 12, 2019 Location: Athens, Tennessee   Come and join us in the beautiful foothills of Athens, Tennessee for our 2019 Cob Building Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house in this workshop. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to be able to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings. This workshop is a…

This is the first of a series of comprehensive workshops in which we will construct a hybrid natural building using many site-sourced materials and permaculture principles. This workshop will focus on round pole timber framing, an attractive structural skeleton that can accompany many natural wall systems. The first part of the workshop will cover: Design Overview; Structural considerations; Aesthetic considerations; How to interface timber frames with cob, straw bale & clay wattle; Preparing logs (peeling, washing, relief cuts, curing); Mortise & tenon joinery –…

All of our Natural Building Workshops are led and facilitated by the builder of a 900 sq.ft. split level Cob Home.  This home was built in 5 months during 2016.  About 80% of it was built by one person – your workshop instructor – on his own.  He had help putting up the floor and roofing beams as well as the giant windows and skylights, but 90% of the cobbing was done alone.  That’s the power of this technique that…

This is one of a series of comprehensive workshops in which we will be constructing a hybrid natural building using many site-sourced materials and permaculture principles. This workshop will focus on clay and straw, two of the most versatile natural building materials. In the first part of the workshop, you will learn to: • Build a highly insulating and fire-resistant straw bale wall • Mix clay soil, sand and straw into cob • Sculpt cob into beautiful, durable walls • Sustainably harvest…

OUR HOSTS, LOCATION & PROJECT  Yubarrio was formed by a group of friends in 2015 with the intention to create a diverse little village devoted to enjoying and caring for the land. With a motto of “slow and steady,” the folks on the land are carefully building bike trails to the Yuba River, reducing overcrowding and fuel loads in the far-ranging woods, milling bug-killed trees into timbers for carbon-negative buildings, growing a bounty of herbs for medicine and food for…

All of our Natural Building Workshops are led and facilitated by the builder of a 900 sq.ft. split level Cob Home.  This home was built in 5 months during 2016.  About 80% of it was built by one person – your workshop instructor – on his own.  He had help putting up the floor and roofing beams as well as the giant windows and skylights, but 90% of the cobbing was done alone.  That’s the power of this technique that…

More fun with clay, straw, and sticks! This is one of a series of comprehensive workshops in which we will be constructing a hybrid natural building using many site-sourced materials and permaculture principles. Building on what we learned in the previous workshop, we will branch out into other earthen wall systems and begin the finishing process. • Make adobe blocks from clay soil mixed with straw or other fibers • Build different styles of earthen arches, with and without forms •…

This is the last of a series of comprehensive workshops in which we will construct a hybrid natural building using many site-sourced materials and permaculture principles. This workshop will focus on inexpensive, efficient ways to heat space and water that you can construct yourself. Learn the essential points to clean combustion. Why Batch Heaters? Differences and similarities between Batch Rocket Mass Heaters and classic, J-tube Rocket Mass Heaters. Learn how thermal mass improves heating and how, with the bell system, thermal mass can be utilized flexibly…